 "Photo: Ilissa Gilmore / The South End")
 "Photo: Courtesy Jane Stewart")
Last November, 63 percent of voters legalized medical marijuana in Michigan, making it the 13th state to do so. Since then, it’s been a year of highs and lows for Wayne State senior Jane Stewart.
Stewart, 51, was diagnosed 11 years ago with common variable immunodeficiency, an incurable disease similar to AIDS and lupus, essentially leaving a person with no immune system making them extremely susceptible to infections.
Last semester, she had to withdraw from classes. This semester, her health makes it so she has to use a scooter to get around campus.
She began using medical marijuana three years ago to lessen the adverse side effects of her disease, as well as the treatments that left her nauseated, sleepless and unable to concentrate, among other problems.
It has improved her quality of life by reducing the amount of prescribed opiates she takes, such as Vicodin, fentanyl and morphine.
Under the guidance of the Michigan Coalition for Compassionate Care, a state-wide organization committed to obtaining medical marijuana for patients, Stewart started the student organization Warriors for Medical Marijuana last year, in order to educate people about medical marijuana and encourage voters to legalize it.
For her and similar patients, the triumph of state legalized marijuana became fleeting due to the almost universal confusion in the medical community.
Because marijuana is still federally illegal, some doctors are hesitant to sign the paperwork they need in order to procure the identification card that clears them of any wrongdoing.
“It’s a big problem for patients,” Stewart said. She would know, as she was one of them.
“The biggest problem was getting the card,” she said. “So many doctors in Michigan are afraid to sign. My doctors [were] afraid to sign my paperwork.”
Without the ID, she said she could lose the financial aid she receives from the Michigan Rehabilitation Services, her social security and her Medicaid — and therefore, her life.
Situations like this happen all the time, according to Detroit lawyer Matthew Abel, who specializes in marijuana law.
“The only thing they [doctors] have to worry about is if they prescribe it to someone who doesn’t need it,” he said. “As long as they’re using their honest judgment, they should be fine.
“This issue’s just in its infancy, and there’s a lot of problems with it,” he said. “It’s continually changing.”
One problem is with doctors’ Drug Enforcement Administration certification, which considers marijuana illegal to prescribe.
“That’s the law,” he said. “No doctors are forced to do anything. [But] doctors need to be educated. Patients need to take it on themselves to educate doctors.”
It is possible for a patient to file a complaint against a physician or find another doctor to sign, Abel said.
Stewart said there are clinics all over Michigan willing to sign paperwork — for $200. Unable to afford what she considers to be her right, she was able to find a physician who signed for free.
“At least I won’t go to jail now,” she said. “At least I won’t lose my insurance.”
Stewart’s doctors were unavailable for comment.
Another problem that patients face is actually getting the marijuana they need.
“We have no way of getting our marijuana, unless we grow it ourselves,” she said.
That’s exactly what Stewart’s daughter and caregiver, Samantha Cox, took upon herself to do.
“It’s hard to watch your parent wither away,” she said. “It’s really sad, and it’s really hard, and it makes you want to do something.”
Cox, 26, taught herself how to grow and harvest marijuana, which she said is “a trial and error thing.”
“There’s a lot of time and energy invested in it,” she said. “When you lose a plant, you have to start over, and that, at least, takes three weeks for roots to come in.”
She buys clones, a piece of plant with roots, from other caregivers for prices ranging from $20 to $40. She then uses her own organic soil in which to plant them.
Her greenhouse is a converted camper with a lock and lights, donated by other marijuana patients. A printed copy of the marijuana law hangs on one of the walls.
Cox not only grows for her mother but for her other patient, her boyfriend, who has a degenerative disc in his back. With two patients and the legal limit of 12 plants each, she said she’s “got to keep that garden going.”
“I have to be there every day; I can’t be gone,” she said. “Those [plants] are my children — those are my baby girls.”
Cox has even begun experimenting with different strains and wants to invent her own. She said she would like to attend Michigan State University for a degree in agriculture and grow for the state of Michigan.
“But until it’s federal law, I ain’t doing nothing,” she said.
Though things may be looking better for Stewart, she said that there are other patients who need help. The first step in getting it, she said, is admitting they use marijuana.
“There’s still a lot of pot smokers in the closet,” she said. “It’s time to come out.”
5 comments
Well they do not prescribe as stated on the State of Mi site. Physicians confirm their patients qualifing illness on the application for MMR.